Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

Voters are the boss and these elections were in a sense an appraisal for our two main parties. And the message was very much not good enough on Brexit.

The sense was that voters have clearly watched the last few months of the political handling of this enormous issue and - while local issues were of course a factor in these elections - people have looked at what has gone on and just thought, 'this is a mess'.

Both party leaderships are going to be under pressure to go for a more radical, clearer position on Brexit.

For the Labour party, there will be a lot of pressure form their backbenchers for them to be more supportive of another referendum.

On the Tory side, I think we’re going to see more pressure for a harder Brexit or more willingness from Theresa May to drive it through.

Counting of votes has started in Northern Ireland's council elections.

Voters went to the polls on Thursday to decide who would represent them on the 11 councils across Northern Ireland.

Polling stations closed at 22:00 BST on Thursday and ballot boxes were moved to the counting centres for the votes to be verified overnight.

The counting of votes in some council areas began at 08:00 BST, with the first results expected in the late afternoon.

The final results are not expected to be confirmed until Saturday night.

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Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Conservative chairman Brandon Lewis admits it has been a "tough night" for his party.

“We always knew this would be a tough year for us – we won these seats on the day of the 2015 general election," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

However he recognises there is "huge frustration" about Brexit from the public.

“There’s a very clear message to both parties that we have got to get on with getting Brexit done," he says.

Chris Mason
Political Correspondent

That B-word Brexit lingers as it always does - there’s a frustration clearly expressed in the two big parties.

Depending on where you look, that frustration goes in different directions. There's frustration perhaps from some that Conservatives have failed to deliver their promise of delivering Brexit in the time in was supposed to have happened.

There's frustration from others within Labour - either that they are too Remain-y or insufficiently Remain-y, depending on the inclination of a particular voter.

So there’s quite a bit of soul searching for the big political parties here at Westminster. And there are gains for the smaller parties – the Liberal Democrats have made significant gains, they are definitely wearing the biggest smiles this morning.

There are gains too at a smaller local level for the Greens and independents.

And there are elections coming in a couple of weeks that will involve the whole of the UK.

If these local elections have featured Brexit pretty prominently then you can only begin to imagine how significant the Brexit question will be in those European Parliament elections, with the full range of perspectives being reflected in the political parties standing.

Not least with the Brexit Party and Change UK, who were not prominent players in the local election but who are likely to be significant voices, along with the other parties, in the European elections.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Labour's national campaign coordinator Andrew Gwynne admits it has been a "tough set of elections" for his party.

The shadow communities secretary tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that while local factors were also at play "undoubtedly Brexit played a part in the results".

“The point is that for many people, it was their first opportunity to express that sense of frustration and I think the two main parties have borne the brunt of that," he says.

Professor John Curtice explains how the "dominance" of the Conservative and Labour party has come under pressure.

We're expecting the results to slow to a trickle now as most of the English councils which were counting overnight have reported.

Of these, only South Oxfordshire has yet to announce its results.

Another 137 councils in England are just starting to count their results. We expect their results to start coming in from about midday.

Because Northern Ireland's 11 councils use a different electoral system where voters rank candidates in order of preference, its results take longer to count.

With 109 councils in England declared, Conservatives and Labour have faced a backlash with smaller parties and independents taking seats nationwide.

• Liberal Democrats have gained eight councils and 271 councillors
• Conservatives have lost 16 councils, won two and lost 396 councillors in total
• Labour has lost three councils and won one, losing a total of 81 councillors
• The Green Party has gained 36 councillors
• UKIP has lost 54 councillors
• Independents and smaller parties have added 224 councillors
• Professor John Curtice says there has been a north/south divide, with Conservatives shedding more seats in the south and Labour losing more in the north
• BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg says the results suggest the two main parties are being punished for their handling of Brexit

North Kesteven Council was earlier reported as an independent gain, but is now confirmed as no overall control.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Tory MP Crispin Blunt says the "Brexit mess in Westminster" has hit his party in the local elections - with the Conservatives losing 16 councils.

The MP for Reigate in Surrey - which is still waiting for its council results - says he hopes the impact of Brexit has "not been as massive as many people had predicted".

However, he warns the outlook for the European elections - if they take place - is worse, as the focus will be on Europe.

“Plainly we are going to need to get a new leader at some point and get a clear strategy to get Brexit across the line," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

BBC Breakfast

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Sir Ed Davey says that the night's results were a "sea change" for the party.

"Clearly the Liberal Democrats are back in the game," he tells BBC Breakfast.

"We’ve been taking seats in councils where we never expected. We’ve been winning seats that weren’t even on our best hopeful list."

He said the results bode "incredibly well" for a general election, with the party winning back seats it previously held as well as gaining in places where it had never won before.

"If you want to stop Brexit, if you want frankly to get our country back in the game, vote Liberal Democrat, that’s the message from last night," he says.

He pays tribute to Lib Dem leader Sir Vince Cable for delivering "our best results in a generation".

But he refuses to be drawn on whether he will stand for leader when Sir Vince stands down, saying there are "quite a few people who could lead the party".